On Sunday, Indian Defence Minister (DM) Rajnath Singh said that talks between India and China are going smoothly and that India will never bow down. Singh made the comments while campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Ahmedabad.
India Won’t Bow Down
Responding to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Chinese aggression towards India, Singh said that India is no longer a weak country and has become powerful from a military point of view. “We want to maintain good relations with our neighbouring countries,” he asserted.
The DM added that India and China are carrying out talks on their issues in a good environment. “I understand that we should wait for the outcome of the talks. But I want to assure the countrymen that India has not bowed down anywhere, nor will it ever bow down.”
In a recent interview with Newsweek, PM Narendra Modi urged the two sides to “urgently address” the prolonged border conflict. India and China have been involved in de-escalation talks ever since the Galwan Valley clash in May 2020, which brought the ties between the two nations to a historic low.
The situation continues to be tense as the countries exchange frequent barbs over their territorial disputes, with over 50,000 troops stationed on the border. While disengagement has occurred on several points, it has yet to transpire on the crucial points of Depsang and Demchok.
Defence Exports
DM Singh further hailed India’s defence exports, saying that they had crossed the highest ever Rs 21,000 crore ($2.5 billion) mark in the financial year 2023-24. He expressed confidence that the numbers will continue to increase and mentioned that, in 2014, exports were only at Rs 600 crore (~$72 million).
He stated that as the Modi government is committed to ensuring that defence items, whether missiles and other weapons, bombs or tanks, are made in India and by Indians, the country has achieved a production of Rs 1 lakh crore (~$12.5 billion). According to the Defence Ministry, in FY 2023-24, exports were Rs 21,083 crore ($2.63 billion), a growth of 32.5% over the previous fiscal year. The recent figures indicate that the defence exports have grown by 31 times in the last ten years as compared to FY 2013-14.
While India’s defence exports are increasing, a SIPRI report showed that India continued to be the largest importer of arms from 2019-2023, with total imports rising by 4.7% compared to the 2014-2018 period.
Talks with China Going Smoothly, India Won’t “Bow Down”: DM Rajnath Singh
Singh said that India is no longer a weak country and has become powerful from a military point of view.
April 29, 2024
IMAGE SOURCE: REUTERSIndian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.